A Shortland Street event

New Zealand's longest running drama series, Shortland
Street, is set to break new ground with a series of firsts
during an epic feature length episode this August the 2nd.

For the first time in the show's history, Shortland
Street will screen a special 90 minute episode that will
also feature the show's first ever use of green screen
cinematography.

Featuring several action-packed storylines, the drama will unfold
as we see popular bad-boy Kieran Mitchell (Adam Rickitt) fight for
his life against a group of Thai gang members who have returned to
seek vengeance against him for his past betrayals.

Unwittingly dragged into the furore against their will, several
other of Shortland Street's much-loved characters,
including Gerald Tippett (Harry McNaughton) will be forced to make
life and death decisions in order to save themselves and the life
of Kieran Mitchell.

"It was a challenge at times, but we had a great time filming it,"
says McNaughton. "I think one of the most interesting things about
the episode is the way the characters are forced to respond to the
extraordinary circumstances they find themselves caught up in."

The episode will feature a host of exciting guest stars including
Matt Sunderland (who previously played mass murderer David Gray in
the movie Out of the Blue) as White Dragon, the head of the gang
intent on capturing and torturing Kieran.

And well-respected New Zealand actor/writer and director, Ian Mune
(OBE) as a family member of Chris Warner (Michael Galvin) who
arrives with a family secret that will wreak havoc on Chris'
life.

The storylines for the 90 minute feature that were shot on location
were filmed over seven gruelling days during the recent weather
bomb and filming most definitely took its toll on the cast and crew
involved.

"It poured with rain for most of the time that we were filming and
it was absolutely freezing in the bush," says 1st Assistant
Director Jimmy Scott. "On top of that, we had limited light to
shoot in and some of the trickiest scenes logistically and
technically that the show has ever had to execute. Needless to say,
the entire cast and crew were pretty exhausted at the end of
filming."

The use of green screen technology for some of the action scenes
proved particularly difficult for director Richard Barr and his
team to execute, but the results were well worth the effort.

"The use of green screen is not something we use in a general week
for filming at Shortland Street, so to get our
heads round all the technicalities that were required and shoot
everything in such a short amount of time was pretty full-on," he
says. "However, I don't think we could have done justice to the
storylines that the story team created without the use of this
technology. I think the results are something we can all be proud
of."

Don't forget, we're bringing you exclusive behind-the-scenes
video from the making of our special episode.